Garcia throwing at familiar targets in Talons' offense

Long-term partnerships boost veteran QB's firepower.

By Richard Oliver :
July 5, 2012
: Updated: July 5, 2012 11:34pm

For Talons coach Lee Johnson, letting quarterback Aaron Garcia (above) bring in guys he worked with before was a “no-brainer.”

Photo By Billy Calzada/San Antonio Express-News

Jason Willis had 11 catches against San Jose in April. He has missed seven games while battling a hamstring issue.

Photo By Billy Calzada/San Antonio Express-News

Talons QB Aaron Garcia surrounded himself with “guys who trust me and will listen to me.”

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Making a connection

Talons quarterback Aaron Garcia recruited some familiar targets for his offense this season. It’s paid off handsomely for San Antonio’s first-year Arena Football League franchise:

Jomo Wilson, WR: In playing with Garcia at Jacksonville during the 2010 and ’11 seasons, the former Eastern Oregon receiver compiled 2,701 yards on 212 catches, scoring 63 touchdowns. Wilson hauled in five TD receptions from Garcia in the Sharks’ 73-70 victory over Arizona in ArenaBowl XXIV in August.

Jason Willis, WR: Played with Garcia at New York for the 2007 and ’08 seasons, and reunited with him at Jacksonville in 2010. In those three seasons, the ex-Oregon headliner rolled up 2,195 yards on 187 catches, including 38 touchdowns. The 6-foot-1 receiver was on the receiving end of Garcia passes that set the AFL records for career yards and TDs.

There have been times this season when Talons quarterback Aaron Garcia finds himself under duress in the pocket, feeling about as skittish as a rabbit in a dog pound.

The designed play has broken down, receivers are scrambling for openings, and blockers are desperately digging in.

So Garcia, an 18-year veteran, does what he normally does — throws up a prayer.

“We enjoy a relationship off the field and on the field,” wide receiver Jomo Wilson said of his longtime association with Garcia, 41. “And it definitely comes with telepathic football knowledge.”

Whatever the connection, be it holy or wholly ESP, it has worked handsomely for the Talons (12-3).

Garcia, who calls the offensive plays for the Arena Football League's hottest team, usually does so by targeting familiar faces such as Wilson and Jason Willis. One or the other of the receivers has played with the veteran quarterback in four of the past six seasons.

Together, Willis and Wilson have hauled in more than 400 passes for more than 5,000 yards and 100-plus touchdowns in playing alongside Garcia, including this season.

“The thing that they have is they're able to read off each other so well,” said Talons linebacker Jamar Ransom, who spent the previous four seasons facing off against Garcia-led teams while playing at Tulsa, Okla.

“It's difficult to defend, because they're partners. They've been doing it for years.”

Garcia, as part of agreeing to extend his career another season and kick off a new franchise in San Antonio, was granted not only the duty of calling plays in the Talons' offense, but to import players to help execute them.

“You respect 18 years of experience,” said Talons coach Lee Johnson, only four years older than Garcia. “He's basically the offensive coordinator, and you give the offensive coordinator that option to do that. To bring in guys he worked with before and won a championship with was a no-brainer.”

In Wilson, a 6-foot standout who played at Eastern Oregon, and Willis, a 6-1 target who starred at Oregon, Garcia was able to renew successful partnerships.

Wilson, a personable former quarterback, totaled 212 catches for 2,701 yards and 63 touchdowns with Garcia the past two seasons at Jacksonville. Last August, he caught five TD passes to help spearhead the Sharks' 73-70 victory over Arizona in ArenaBowl XXIV.

“It gets stronger and deeper and better every day,” said Wilson, who has played three of his five years of arena football with Garcia. “I'm a former quarterback myself, so I can put myself in the position of what he's thinking. Having a quarterback IQ pays off in certain situations in the game.”

Evidence of that played out in the season opener in March when Wilson collected 143 yards receiving, still a team-high for the year. He had 18 catches for 271 yards and six TDs during the first two contests before an injury knocked him out for five weeks.

With 75 yards receiving in a 58-48 win over Kansas City last Saturday, Wilson became the first Talons wideout to total 1,000 yards through the air this year.

“He understands the game,” Garcia said of Wilson, who also has kickoff returns for TDs in each of the past three games. “It's interesting, because he doesn't do things real fundamentally, but I kind of like that in a receiver. We've just been able to work together well.”

Willis, who played two seasons with Garcia in New York in 2007 and '08 before a one-year stint with the Sharks in 2010, contributed a team season-high 11 catches against San Jose in April. It was one of only eight games he has been able to play after battling a hamstring issue. He returned to action this month.

Garcia also has a recognizable player on the offensive line in hulking Jamar Ward, who competed with the quarterback with the AF2 Iowa franchise in 2002, and receiver Sale Key, also in Jacksonville the past two years.

Other current and former Talons players, such as defensive backs Maurice Holmes and Eric Crocker and defensive lineman Wes Mauia, have joined Garcia, Willis and Wilson during offseason workouts in California.

“I'm not always easy to handle,” Garcia said of quarterbacking the offense. “I stay on them and say what I expect. But these are guys who trust me and will listen to me.”